Influence of estrogen receptors on survival and recurrence in patients with breast cancer without lymph node metastases

H. S. Maki and J. L. Hoehn
Department of Surgery, Marshfield Clinic, WI 54449.

A retrospective chart review was conducted to determine the prognostic effect of estrogen receptor (ER) protein in patients with node-negative operable breast cancer. One hundred nine patients with breast cancer whose tumors underwent ER analysis and whose lymph node negativity was established histologically were studied. Based on life-table analysis, the overall survival at six years was 92.7% for ER-positive patients, 95.3% for ER-negative patients, and 94.4% for ER-borderline patients. The disease-free survival was 83.3%, 92.8%, and 71.4%, respectively. Survival and disease-free survival were also correlated to menopausal status. The difference in survival was not statistically significant at six years. We conclude that in node-negative primary operable breast cancer, ER status should not be used as a discriminant for adjuvant treatment.